Protective and controlling device for rolling window screens



c. TRAUT 1,880,588

PROTECTIVE AND CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ROLLING WINDOW SCREENS Oct. 4,1932.

Filed Sefit. 11. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY- C. TRAUT Oct. 4, 1932.

PROTECTIVE AND CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR ROLLING WINDOW SCREENS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 11, 1951 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 4, 1932 UNITED STATS v ATE; FFE iCE I CLIFFORDTEAUT, F NEVJPORT, KENTUCKY, ASSIG-NOR TO THE HIGG-IN MAITUFACTUR- INGCOMPANY, OF NEWPGRT, KENTUCKY, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA PROTECTIVEAND oonrnonmne DEVICE non nonnrne 'w'mnow sonnnns Application filedSeptember 11, 1931.' SeriaINo. 563,316.

My invention pertains to the art of rolling window screens, wherein, asis well understood, there is provided at the sides of a window opening apair of guides, and at the top of the window opening a spring rollerupon which the screencloth is wound as it is taken up. The .roller isusually in an appropriate housing; and there is provided a draw barextending across the window opening and ridin in or alon the uides. Oneend of the screen cloth is attached to this draw bar, the other end, .ofcourse, being attached'to the spring roller. As'the draw bar is-broughtdown along the guides, the screen cloth is unrolled from the springroll, and when the draw bar is locked in its lower-most position thescreen cloth completelycovers the window opening. A- suitable latchingmeans is provided for the draw bar. The edges of the screen ride in theside guides.

For window openings of moderate size, this construction alone has beenfound adequate, but where the window opening is very large .the pressureof air against the screen cloth either from the inside or the outside ofthe building, is frequently sufiicient to cause thescreen to bulgeinwardly or outwardly, to an extent permitting it to comexout of theside guides. Under these circumstances the screen fails of its function,and the operator has the inconvenience of manually inserting the clothback into the guides.

In my prior Patent No. 1,838,140,.Nov. 24,

1931, I have describeda construction in which bars or reinforcingmembers, separate from the screen cloth, are provided with means slidingin the side guides. These bars are held at different predeterminedheights .by a series of stops. As the draw bar is raised, feet on thedraw bar engage these bars and lift them, oneafter another, until thewindow opening .is clear. 7 My present invention is an improvement uponthis structure, wherein it is myobject to provide means for adgustmg thebars transversely of the window opening soas'tofinsure their properco-operation with the stop members, an improved .interengagement ofmeanson the bars with a particular character of side guide construction, andmeans whereby not only are the bars irremoyably associated "with theside guides throughout the extent of the operation of the screen, butalso are more positively guided 1n their movements, and prevented fromassuming improper positions.

installing my cont-rolling features in screensalready in use, orinaddingor taking out bars, 7

all without disassembly of the screen.

These and other objects of my invention 7 Also it is my object to,proyide means for Figure 1 is an elevation of a typical windew openingfitted with my improvedscreen. Fig. 2 is :a sectional View therethroughtaken along the lines 2,2 in Fig. 1. v V Fig. 3 isa plan View of ,thedevice by which my reinforcing and screen controlling bars are mountedwith reference to the side guides. Fig. t is a sectional view- 0fan-exemplary bar taken along the lines 4, lot Fig. 5.

vFig. 5 is a front view'of one of my bars, ;Figs. 6 and 7 areperspective viewsofone form of stops which I may employ. c- It will beunderstood that my invention is not restricted to the controlling ofrolling window screens. It may be used in the controlling of shades,light-tight curtains, screensand thelike, and in fact, inany situ ationin which a flexible closure member is mounted for sliding contact withinterspaced guidingmembers, where it is necessary toree inforce orcontrol the flexible member without directly attaching thereto orincorporan be particularly described by me. Fastened on the ambs'of thewindowl have shown side 7 guides 7 and 8, which will be more particular-Latches 11 and 12 may be provided in the form shown, or any othersuitable forms, the purpose of which is to hold the draw bar down byengagement with other latching members 13 and 14, upon the side guides,or elsewhere.

At intervals up the window space I have shown controlling or reinforcingbars 15 and 16. These bars prevent the screen from sagging as aforesaid.They 'may be located" either inside or outside of the window space.

or upon both sides of the screen cloth if de sired. They are slidablymounted with respect to the guides 7 and 8, so that as the draw bar 9 israised to the position shown in the dotted lines, Fig. 1 these bars willbe moved by the draw bar itself, or by feet 17 and 18 thereon, to slidewith the draw bar to the top of the window space, where they also areshown in dotted lines. If the draw barbe again lowered to the bottom ofthe window space, the bars 15 and 16 will descend with it until theyselectively engage certain stops upon the window 1' ambs, or upon theguides. The bar 16 has been shown as longer than the bar 15, and restingupon stops 19 and 20, which are relatively narrower and past whichtheshorter bar 15 can slide during its descent along the guides. The bar 15is shown resting upon stops 21 and 22, which are wider than the stops 19and 20, and which therefore serve to-support the bar 15. I

I have shown the window as having on its inner side two bars 15 and 16.It may have a greater or lesser number, as desired. Ordinarily, quiteirrespective of the width of the window, a reinforcing bar every thirtyinches of the length of the window opening, will be found suf'icientwith screen cloth, excepting perh apspin localities characterized byvery high winds. The width of the window hasa great deal to do, ofcourse, with the tendency of the screen cloth to come out of the guides,but ordinarily bars every thirty inches will serve to retain the screencloth quite irrespective of the width of the window opening. employed,"they will be arranged as to their lengths to operate selectively withappropriate stop means after the manner illustrated in Fig. 1. Thus thebars will become progressively shorter toward the bottom of the windowspace, and'the stop r'neans will become progressively wider, orbeotherwise positioned so as to catchthe bars selectively.

In the preferred form of my invention I provide means whereby the barscannot,

Where more than two bars are somewhat canted during the lowering of thedraw bar, they nevertheless cannot fall out of the window opening.Another advantage is that the particular means of my invention may beused also to adjust the bars with reference to their path of travelalong the guides, so as to insure the proper co-operation of the ends ofthe bars and the stop devices. Finally, my invention provides for someangular play in the bars as may be necessary for their satisfactoryoperation, and at the same time prohibits such an angularity as wouldprevent the bars from coming to rest upon the proper stop means.

It will be understood that the side guides presenta channel in which theedges of the screen cloth slide, and it will be further understood thatmy barswill, in any event, have members which enter this channel, or atleast another vertical channel in a suitable device.

It would be possible, of course, to provide separate guides for thebars, but this not only is unnecessary, but is expensive. I shalldescribe as my exemplary construction one in which the bars have meansentering the channel of the screen guide. The outer ends of thebars mayalsoabut the guides, and have a supplementary motion-controllingfunction. However, if a member on the bars merely enters the slotaforesaid, it will not serve to preventthe endwise withdrawal of thebars from engagement with the screen guide. When a bar becomes canted,there is a tendency, for this endwise withdrawal,

and when this occurs the bar will be freed from the channel and may fallupon the operator. Consequently, it is necessary to provide meanswhereby the member entering the slot, or otherwise co-operating withtheguide, has a non-withdrawable interengagement therewith, whichinterengagement does not, however, impede the sliding of the meinheralong the guide. To this end, I provide a type of guide in which atleast one side of the channel is defined by a portion of the wall of theguide which is reversely bent; and I provide to co-act therewith,amember on the bar to enter the guide and extend beyond the edge of theinturned wall, and then by means of a return bend, or the like, toengage behind said wall.

' I have'shown in Fig. 2 a guide having side walls 23 and 24, and a slotindicated at 25, which is defined by inturned portions 26 and 27 of theguide walls, which inturned assumes flange through which screws, orother devices, may be placed in securing the guide to the window amb.

My bars may comprise solid or hollow members preferably, though notnecessarily,

of metal. I have indicated in ,Fig. 4 a bar formed of sheet metal bentto provide a face 30, and sides 31, the bar thus being ofsubstantiallychannel shape, but having uponits rear side turned over reinforcing ears'32. The bar, where] it approaches the guides, may be,'and preferablywill "be, cut away as at 33 to accommodate the guides and to permit theback portions 32 to be approached as closely as possible to the screencloth itself, preferably without actually 7 touching the same. A slidingmounting member for the bars is'illustrated in elevation in Fig. 3, andin plan in Fig. 2. It comprises a foot 34 adapted for attachment to thebar itself, an angularly bent portion 35, and a portion 36 adapted toenter the guide through the wall therein. The portion 36 issubstantially parallel to the foot 34, from which it is offset by theangularly bent portion 35.

The portion 36 is reversely bent at its end to provide a member 37spaced slightly therefrom, the function of which is to ride in the guidebehind the turned over portion 27 of the guide wall. This-relationshipis illus trated in Fig. 2. It will be evident that my mounting membermay not be withdrawn from the guide in any transverse direction. It'canonly be removed from the guide by being withdrawn from an end thereof.

The turnedover portion 37of each mounting means has its end 38 biased atangle of about 45 degrees with its lateral'edges. t will be noticed thatalthough thereis preferably an appreciable space between the bend 36a ofthe mounting device and the inner edges of the turned over wall 27 oftheguide, yet the end of the portion 37 of the mounting member approachesin use quite closely to the inner edge of the pocket between guidemembers 27 and 24. Therefore, were it not for the bevel 38, the bar 16would bind on the guides as soon as it had canted by a very smalldegree. The bevel permits the canting of the bar to a useful degreewithout causing it to bind, while the relatively close fit of the end ofmember 37 in the end of the guide pocket between walls 27 and 24 permitsmy mounting members to be used to center the bars 16 and adjust themrelative to the stop means, as will hereinafter be explained. Since,however, provision mustbe made for the canting of the strip in bothdirections, it is necessary for metoim'a'ketheimounting membersillustrated in Fig. 3 in the form of riights and drafts, that is,whenlintheir operatingpositions they have their biased ends slanting upward andout toward the respective sides of the window. As shown in Fig. 1, upperright, mymounting member shown inFig. 8, maybe slipped underth'etop'member and over the top-of and into the guide on that side ofthe window;

the bevel 88 on the lower corner of my mounting members enabling thesemembers to clear the guides during this insertion. This constructionalso enables me to install additional bars without dismantling'theentire structure.

The :portion 34 of my mountingmember is perforated as at 89, and has areturn bent part 34a enclosingan ordinarynut 40, held from turningthereby. A. slot 41 is cutlin the face of my bars within the endsthereof, admitting a bolt orscrew 42 to screw lnto the'nut 40,

in the relationshipshown inFig. 2, to fasten my mounting device to thebar. The slot 41 provides for the adjustability of my mounting memberwith respect to the bar, and in this way thebar may be centered in thewindow openingand positioned in such a way as to cooperate properly withstop members 19 and .20, or 21 and 22. 1

These stop members may conveniently be in'the 'formsro'f blocks ofmetal, which may be held against the jamb by screws. 7 In some forms ofthe apparatus, and particularly where the guide is made in two partsrather than in one part, it may be found advantageous to connectthes'tops directly to the guide, as by spot welding, or otherwise.VVhere'the guide is not one piece, spot welding these stops against theguide is difficult, and other methods of attachment, such as soldering,are likely to be rendered ineffective by heat treatments employed infinishing the guides. The attachment of the stops tothe ambs directly isusually entirely satisfactory.

My bars 15 and 16 may be located upon either side of the screen cloth,or'upon both sides thereof, particularly where conditions of fluidpressure of both sides are to be ex pected. I have shown in dotted linesin Fig.

2 another bar 16a lying upon the outer side of the screen space. Such abar or series of bars will, of course, have its own series of stopmechanisms, and an appropriate set of feet or other raising means uponthe draw bar. 9. Modifications may be madein my invention withoutdeparting'from the spiritthereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I-claim as new and desire tosecure by Let- V ters Patent, is

1. In a protective device for a rolling closure, spaced side guideshaving channels, a bar movable along said guides, and having meansentering said channels, said bar being unattached to said rollingclosure, said means entering said channels havlng a portlon w1thin saidguides to prevent the withdrawal thereof through said channel's.

2. Ina protective device for arolling closure, spaced side guides havingchannels, said rolling closure having its edges operating-in saidchannels and having a draw bar, and a bar separate-from said draw barand said closure means, and having mounting means entering the channelof a guide, and bearing at its end insaid guide, and means for preneland engaged beyond the re-entrant por-' tion of said wall. i 7

i. In a protective device for a rolling closure, side guides havingre-entrant spaced walls defining a channel, whereby a rolling closuremember may have its edges riding in the channels of said guide, and haveadraw bar slidable with respect to said guides, and a bar unattached tosaid draw bar or said rolling closure, and having a member entering theslots of said guides and turned over on the outer side of saidre-entrant walls to prevent withdrawal thereof through said channels. V

5. In a protective device for a rolling closure, side guides havingreversely bent interspaced walls defining a channel, whereby a rollingclosure member may have its edges riding in thechannels'of said. guide,and have a draw bar slidable with respect to said guides, and abarunattached to said draw bar or said rolling closure and having a memberentering the slots of said guides and turned over behind said reverselybent walls to prevent withdrawal thereof through said channels, andmeans for adj ustably attaching said slot-entering member to said bar.

6. In a protective device for a rolling closure, a guide having achannel defined by at least one re-entrant wall, a bar unattached tosaid rolling closure, said bar of a length to have its ends overlap saidguide, and mounting means adjustably attached to said bar, said mountingmeans comprising an attached portion and a portion in offsetrelationship for entering said channel, said latter portion having areversely bent member'at the end thereof. r

'7. In a protective device for a rolling closure, a guide having achannel defined by at least one re-entrant wall, a bar unattached tosaid rolling closure, said bar of a length to have its ends overlap saidguide, and mounting means adjustably attached to said bar, said mountingmeans comprising an at tached portion anda portion in offset'relationship for entering said channel, said latter-portion having areversely bent member at the end thereof, said reversely bent memberbeing beveled at its end.

8, In combination with a hollow barhaving a sidewise disposed cut-awayportion, mounting and guiding means having an at-' tachment foot, anangularly bent portion connected therewith, anda sliding portionmaintained by said angularly bent portion in olfset relationship withsaid foot, said sliding portion having a reversely bent portion.

9. In combination with a hollow bar having asidewise vdisposed cut-awayportion, mounting and guiding means having-an at-' tachmentfoot, anangularly bent portion connected therewith, and a guiding portionmaintained by said angularly bent portion in offset relationship withsaid foot, said sliding portion having a reversely bent portion, andbeing adapted to coact with a guide having outer walls, and a channel atleast one side of which is defined by a reversely bent portion of one ofsaid walls, said reversely bent portion of said mounting device beingadapted for engaging behind said reversely bent portion of said guide.

-10. In combination with a bar having a terminal attachment portion withan opening therethrough, mounting and guiding means having afoot of U-shape lying along said attachment portion, a nut held in the U-shapedfoot and engaging a side of said foot so as not, to turn therein, and afastening element extending through said opening and screwed into saidnut. I

11. In a protective device for arrolling closure, guides for theopposite edges of the closure, eachhaving a channel opening toward therespective closure edge, said channel having a hooked edge, a barunattached to said closure with its end portion adjacent to therespective guides, and mounting means detachably secured to therespective end portions and having hooked parts entering the respectivechannels and hooking into said hooked edges of said channels, the end ofthe hooked part at each side being biased outwardlyand upwardly, I

' I CLIFFORD TRAUT.

